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But shares sank 4.8% to $35.70 premarket as results missed market expectations and the company was saddled with acquisition costs. As of Monday's close, the stock was down 8.4% over the past three months.

U.S. coal producers had seen their stocks plummet recently as the companies have battled rising costs, increased environmental oversight and stiffer competition from cleaner-burning and sometimes cheaper natural gas. Coal is expected to cede more market share to natural gas in what analysts say could be a permanent shift.

Peabody, the largest U.S. coal producer by output, recently completed its roughly $5.05 billion acquisition of the Australia-based coal-mining company Macarthur Coal Ltd. (MCC.AU), increasing its exposure to the growing Asian market. It initially pursued the purchase as a joint acquisition with ArcelorMittal (MT, MT.AE), the world's largest steelmaker, but Arcelor pulled out of the deal following the purchase, saying it no longer wanted to allocate substantial capital for a non-controlling interest in Macarthur.

Peabody has recently reported stronger profits thanks to rising coal prices, and it hopes to capitalize on strong Asian demand with greater exports from its Australian mines and the Powder River Basin.

For the latest period, Peabody reported earnings of $222.4 million, or 82 cents a share, up from $210 million, or 77 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding remeasurement benefits related to foreign income tax, earnings from continuing operations rose to 98 cents a share from 87 cents. The latest period also included $76.1 million in acquisition-related costs. Revenue increased 26% to $2.25 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently expected a profit of $1.29 on $2.34 billion in revenue.

Global sales rose 7.7% to 68.5 million tons on higher Western U.S. mining sales and the Macarthur acquisition. U.S. mining revenue rose 12% to $1.18 billion as revenue per ton increased 3.1%. In Australia, mining revenue increased 7.7% to $772.6 million, and revenue per ton jumped 17%.

The company expects to sell 245 million to 265 million tons in the new year, compared with 2011 sales of 250.6 million tons.

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